Die kremetartekspedisie

Die kremetartekspedisie ("The Boabab expedition") is a short lyrical novel by Wilma Stockenström (1933-)

Also found as Die Kremetartekspedisie.

The original novel

Basically a lyrical monologue, this is a portrait of slavery and dislocation, telling the story of a slave who, as the sole survivor of a failed expedition in the heart of Africa, hid herself in a hollow Boabab tree. As her loneliness increases she relives her former life - from being abducted from her home town as a child, her life in a harbour city on the east coast, as the servant of various masters, her final journey with her last master and protector, to her life in the Boabab tree.

Described by the critic Michelle Kyoko Crowson as "a bittersweet novel that paints a complex psychological picture of slavery, and one woman’s struggle to maintain her humanity even under the most difficult circumstances."[1]

The novel was first published in Afrikaans by Human & Rousseau in 1981.

Translations and stage adaptations

The novel was translated into English as The Expedition to the Baobab Tree by the award-winning novelist J.M. Coetzee[2] and first published by Faber and Faber in 1983.

The novel received worldwide acclaim, and Italian, Dutch, French, Swedish, German and Hebrew translations followed the English. The Italian edition won the Grinzane Cavour award in 1988.

Adapted as a dance-drama called Intarsia by choreographer/dancer Tossie van Tonder in 1985. Consisting of various different dances, based on sections taken from the book, the project was designed to elicit and show the growing character of the young woman.[3]